Thursday, March 13, 2008

Mama Time

I've been struggling with how knowing how much time to spend individually with Emily lately. She seems to be a bottomless pit in how much attention she would *like*! I love it when she says, "snuggle with me Mama?" But, I would never get anything done if always went with what she had in mind - playing, reading books, snuggling, etc...

In talking with David this weekend, he came up with this idea and we're going to give it a try. I made two "coupons" for Mama Time. She will receive these each morning at breakfast and be able to spend them anytime she wants to during the day excluding Quiet Time.

When she presents me the coupon, I will spend a set amount of time with her doing whatever she wants. I'll update soon on how this is going...

In order to get much accomplished each day, we follow a detailed schedule. Of course, we don't follow it exactly, but it does keep us from playing and reading all day :). Part of the schedule includes 'play w/Mamma' and it works perfectly for us. I have 2 children and they each get 2 days each week day where they get to pick exactly what they want to do w/me. They are so excited when it is their time to play - I love it!

Good idea. I too, struggle with giving each child enough "Mommy time". My question is, when she gives you a coupon, do you just stop what you are doing at the moment and do what she wants to do? There are times when I just can't be interrupted (homeschooling, making dinner, etc.)

Sarah - this is a valid concern and we haven't been doing this long enough to have all the kinks worked out. So far, I have stopped what I was doing or got to the nearest stopping point and then had Mama Time. Monica